The following is the third of four questions asked of all candidates running for a position on the School Committee.

All were provided the same questions.

Before September's primary, School Committee candidates answered questions pertaining to school issues. Some of the questions in this final round of Q&A were the same, but they were given the opportunity to modify their answers if desired. Some indicated their stance on the issue remains the same. In these cases, we have re-printed original answers and noted this below.

Answers have not been modified except where minor typographical errors were made. There have been no alterations that affect meaning.

Candidate answers are presented in alphabetical order by last name.

The presence of an asterisk (*) indicates a candidate is an incumbent.

What are your thoughts on Special Education in Salem Public Schools? What changes, if any, would you consider making to the Special Education programs?

Deborah Amaral (answer same as Sept. 15 answer) — Margaret Marotta, Director of Pupil Personnel, has done a very good job in her first year. Ms. Marotta has reorganized the special education programs so the same program in each school now has the same name which will help with greater consistency from school to school. One of Ms. Marotta’s best changes is to have the same coordinator for such programs as diversion and mainstream, life skills program, etc. for the whole district as well as ensuring that a student has the same special needs liaison through their years at that school. As a foster parent to 7 children, it was frustrating to have a different special education liaison each year my child was in high school. It will take time for the changes to show results but I believe that they will. I will support Ms. Marotta continuing to look at best practices and innovation and continue to make changes.

Nate Bryant* (answer same as Sept. 15 answer) — I have two primary concerns about special education in the Salem public schools:

A.  We need to provide the proper training/professional development and examination tools to ensure that we are diagnosing students accurately. I am not convinced that every student categorized as having a learning disability does in fact, have one.

B. We need to continue working on bringing students back into the district and providing them with the services that they need.  This must be done without compromising the instruction.

James Fleming* (answer same as Sept. 15 answer) — My main concern on Special Education in the Salem School District is the number of pupils who currently receive special education support.  Currently, approximately twenty-five (25%) percent of our student population is receiving special education. This number far exceeds the state average and drives the special education costs for Salem to over one-third (33%) of our school budget. Working with our new Special Education Director, the School Committee has recently approved a re-organization of the Special Education Department, which should reduce the enrollment of Special Education pupils. Additionally, for the past four years, the School Committee has dramatically reduced the out of district placement of Special Education students by increasing Special Education classes in-district. These in-district programs should dramatically reduce special education costs in future years.

Lisa Lavoie — As I understand from the Strategic Plan, many changes have been made to Special Education in the past decade, yielding a program with a good foundation and geared to ensuring students will function in the world at large. Like with other specialized programs, the audiences for these programs change over time. For example, as autism-spectrum disorders are recognized and addressed earlier on, I anticipate possible adjustments to special needs education at the higher grade levels.   I would like to see all kids benefit from the different kinds of learning opportunities that Special Education often works with. Whether mainstream or not, every child's brain reacts to different stimuli and I would like to see all kids experience a variety of teaching and learning models. I would also like to understand why we seem to have a disproportionate number of ELL students in special education.

Sean O'Brien — Special Education is an extremely important program to the students within our school district. It is vital that those students with learning disabilities receive special education programs. My thoughts are that nobody knows a child better than his or her parents/guardian and their teachers. If teachers see something and parents see something then help is needed. If elected to the Salem School Committee I will do the best that I can to ensure that students in need of special educational services will receive them. I do not support unnecessary cuts in this program, and will refuse to leave any child in the dark. More one on one work with Special Education students will help those students within the program and insure that they can succeed. My plan is to have paraprofessionals; teachers and administrators work together and make sure those students receive the support required for achievement. I assure you that Special Education will be a top priority for me as a member of the Salem School Committee.

Francis Vigeant — Salem School Committee’s role in special education is to ensure support for Margaret Marotta Smith, the district’s special education director. The school committee should make it a priority for the superintendent, principals, and Ms. Marotta Smith to better understand why our population of special education students in substantially separate classrooms is 8% higher than the state average. Separate classrooms are mandated to have a maximum of 15 students and often have multiple teachers and support staff. I want to make sure we’re offering all students the opportunity to learn in the least restrictive environment. We shouldn’t pull students from conventional classrooms unless separate classrooms are where they’ll learn best.

I am also concerned that the dropout rate for special education students in Salem (8.2%) is almost double the state average. Compared to regular education students in Salem, which have a dropout rate of 2.3%, our special education students are dropping out at a rate 3.5 times greater than that of their regular education peers. I am looking forward to seeing this number reduced under Ms. Marotta Smith’s leadership.